A zoot suit (occasionally spelled zuit suit) is a men's suit with high-waisted, wide-legged, tight-cuffed, pegged trousers, and a long coat with wide lapels and wide padded shoulders. This style of clothing became popular within the African American, Chicano and Italian American communities during the 1940s.[1][2] In Britain the bright-coloured suits with velvet lapels worn by Teddy Boys bore a slight resemblance to zoot suits in the length of the jacket.
History
The zoot suit was originally associated with black musicians and their sub-culture. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word zoot probably comes from a reduplication of suit. The creation and naming of the zoot suit have been variously attributed to Harold C. Fox, a Chicago clothier and big-band trumpeter;[3] Louis Lettes, a Memphis tailor;[4] and Nathan (Toddy) Elkus, a Detroit retailer.[5][6] Anti-Mexican youth riots in Los Angeles during World War II are known as the Zoot Suit Riots. In time, zoot suits were prohibited for the duration of the war,[7] ostensibly because they used too much cloth.[8]
Characteristics
Zoot suiters often wear a fedora hat color-coordinated with the suit and occasionally with a long feather as decoration, and pointy, French-style shoes.
A young Malcolm X described the zoot suit as: "a killer-diller coat with a drape shape, reet pleats and shoulders padded like a lunatic's cell".[9] Zoot suits usually featured a watch chain dangling from the belt to the knee or below, then back to a side pocket. Zoot suit wearers' dates often wore flared skirts and long coats.[10]
The amount of material and tailoring required made them luxury items, so much so that the U.S. War Production Board said that they wasted materials that should be devoted to the World War II war effort.[11] When Life published photographs of zoot suiters in 1942, the magazine joked that they were "solid arguments for lowering the Army draft age to include 18 year olds."[10] This extravagance, which many considered unpatriotic in wartime, was a factor in the Zoot Suit Riots. Wearing the oversized suit was a declaration of freedom and self-determination, even rebelliousness.[12]
See also
- Zazou, a movement in France at the same time with similar tastes in dress and music
- Pachuco, a style of Mexican-American dress and culture associated with the Zoot Suit
- The Zoot Suit Riots, a series of attacks on zoot-suit wearing pachucos during World War II
- 38th street gang, a Los Angeles street gang known for wearing the zoot suit in the 1940s
- The Zoot Cat (animated Tom and Jerry cartoon)
- Zoot Suit (song) by The Who
People
- Norris J. Nelson, Los Angeles City Council member, proposed outlawing zoot suits after the Zoot Suit Riots
- Cab Calloway, musician who frequently wore zoot suits on stage and in the 1943 film Stormy Weather, including some with exaggerated details, such as extremely wide shoulders or overly draped jackets.
- Tin-Tan, a famous Mexican actor from the 1940's who wore zoot suits in his films
References
- ^ Walker, John. (1992) "Zoot suits". Glossary of Art, Architecture & Design since 1945, 3rd. ed. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
- ^ Zooting up / Brighten prom night with flash, dash - and panache
- ^ McG. Thomas, Robert (August 1, 1996). "Harold Fox, Who Took Credit For the Zoot Suit, Dies at 86". New York Times. Retrieved September 11, 2012.
- ^ Bird, Christiane (2001). The Da Capo Jazz And Blues Lover's Guide To The U.S. Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-81034-3.[page needed]
- ^ "Nathan Elkus, 89, Detroit retailer". Daily News Record. January 2, 1992. Retrieved September 11, 2012.
- ^ Elkus, Philip L. (August 4, 1996). "Zoot Suit Required Cutting and Cajoling". New York Times. Retrieved September 11, 2012.
- ^ People & Events: The Zoot Suit Riots of 1943, American Experience; accessed 2013.06.03.
- ^ Use of cloth had already been limited; zoot suits were also seen as unpatriotic. War, Politics & Suits: The Zoot Suit, Duchess Clothier; accessed 2013.06.03.
- ^ Lennard, John (2007). Walter Mosley: "Devil in a Blue Dress" (e-book). Humanities-Ebooks. p. 45. ISBN 978-1-84760-042-4. Retrieved 2009-04-22.
- ^ a b "Zoot suits". Life. 1942-09-21. p. 44. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
- ^ Rottman, Gordon L. (2007). FUBAR: Soldier Slang of World War II. Oxford: Botley. p. 117. ISBN 978-1-84603-176-2.
- ^
Osgerby, Bill (2008). "Understanding the 'Jackpot Market': Media, Marketing, and the Rise of the American Teenager". In Patrick L. Jamieson & Daniel Romer, eds (ed.). The Changing Portrayal of Adolescents in the Media Since 1950. New York: Oxford University Press US. pp. 31–32. ISBN 0-19-534295-X.
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Further reading
- Alvarez, Luis. The Power of the Zoot: Youth Culture and Resistance During World War II (University of California Press, 2008).
- Cosgrove, Stuart (1984). "The Zoot-Suit and Style Warfare". History Workshop Journal. 18: 77–91. doi:10.1093/hwj/18.1.77. Republished in: Cosgrove, Stuart (2005). "The Zoot-Suit and Style Warfare". In Cameron, Ardis (ed.). Looking for America: The Visual Production of Nation and People. pp. 264–80. doi:10.1002/9780470774885.ch10. ISBN 978-1-4051-1465-3.
- Turner, Ralph H.; Surace, Samuel J. (1956). "Zoot-Suiters and Mexicans: Symbols in Crowd Behavior". American Journal of Sociology. 62 (1): 14–20. doi:10.1086/221893. JSTOR 2773799.
- Tyler, Bruce (1994). "Zoot-Suit Culture and the Black Press". The Journal of American Culture. 17 (2): 21–33. doi:10.1111/j.1542-734X.1994.00021.x.
- Alford, Holly (2004). "The Zoot Suit: Its History and Influence". Fashion Theory. 8 (2): 225–36. doi:10.2752/136270404778051807.
- del Castillo, Richard Griswold (2000). "The Los Angeles 'Zoot Suit Riots' Revisited: Mexican and Latin American Perspectives". Mexican Studies. 16 (2): 367–91. doi:10.1525/msem.2000.16.2.03a00080. JSTOR 1052202.
External links
- The Zoot Suit Riots. Article about the zoot suit riots of 1943.
- "Powerdressing - Zoot suits". History, Periods & Styles. Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 2008-06-11.